10 Ways You Can Kill Your Creativity

Walt Disney famously said, "If you can dream it, you can do it," but what if you have trouble dreaming anything?

Creativity is something that many people believe they haven't got - and never will have either. The general feeling is that you either are creative, or aren't. This simply isn't true - creativity is a skill and one that can be learned, put into practice and polished until it shines like a diamond in the sun!

So why don't you feel that you can be creative? It may simply be that you are preventing yourself from growing in this direction by doing things that kill your creativity before you even get started.

Here are ten things you may be doing right now:

1. Self-Doubt.  Do you question your actions after the fact? Are you constantly second-guessing whether you did the right thing or not? Accept that you did your best and resolve to act differently next time if you feel that you could have done better. Don't spent time over analyzing!

2. Limiting Your Social Contacts.  Who do you surround yourself with?  Friends, colleagues, people you've known forever? Creativity needs fresh perspectives to feed from in order to grow so if you never move out of your usual circle of social contacts, you won't experience the new and different ideas that will nurture your creative thinking. Get out more!

3. Accept Without Question.  Everything you read in the newspaper is true - isn't it? If that's your basic belief and you generally accept without question whatever information is given to you, then your creativity isn't in any danger of having to wake anytime soon. Make the word 'why' your favorite word from now on and question what goes on around you more frequently. Ask for more information!

4.  Live a Goalless Life.  How do you see your life panning out over the next five years?  What things will you be doing along the way? If  your Life Plan is to take each day as it comes, to react to circumstances in a knee-jerk style, then your creative brain is simply running on idle.  Instead, think what you would like to do, what sort of person you would want to be and plan how you might get to that point, starting right away. Crank up your dormant brain cells and start thinking!

5.  Avoid Making Decisions, Big or Small.  Why waste energy deciding what to do or what course to take? If you wait long enough, circumstances will force the issue and your options will dwindle to a single one. Failing that, go along with someone else's choice - the effect will be the same. There will be no creative thought involved but at least you didn't have to make a decision...... Stop this behavior right away and start making decisions for yourself. Take control of your life and take the lead!

6. Start Your Sentences With 'That Won't Work Because......'  Have you noticed how so many people tell you why something won't work before they've even considered how they can make it work? Start being a 'Can Do' person instead of a 'Can't Do' one!

7.  Never Allow Intuitions, Gut Feelings, or Hunches.  Rules are there to provide a safe structure and should never be broken - right? Only if you want to prevent any form of creativity creeping into your life, maybe.  We all get hunches, little inklings of things that don;t seem to fit the norm, so start listening out for them. Go with your gut for a change!

8.  Don't Read Any Books.  When was the last time you read a real book? Not a magazine or something on your computer screen but a good, old-fashioned novel? Too much bother? Then you'll be missing out on the rich, visual images that are conjured up when you read the written word, as opposed to having the visuals presented to you on a television or cinema screen. Go out and buy a great fiction book today!

9. Remove Color From Your Life.  Look at what you are wearing - is it full of vibrant color or is it a little bland and uninspiring? Color stimulates your emotions and therefore a lack of it stifles the engine of creativity.  You needn't go mad and start looking like a court jester - just start incorporating a splash of something bright here and there. Get yourself a bright tie or scarf to war to work tomorrow!

10. Remember Your Part Mistakes.  You've failed before so experience tells you that there's no point in trying something new as it's probably doomed from the start. Other people are creative - you simply aren't, so there's no point trying to be something you're not.

That's simply not true, of course. Use your past experiences to learn what not to do this time round. Take a different approach and remember that no one is born a success. Application, practice, learning and persistence will allow you to be anything you want to be, in time. You can even become a creative person!

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